Chapter Four

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Caroline had no idea what had put that doom and gloom look on Detective O’Malley’s face, but it was obvious that he needed to tell her something bad.

Or rather show her.

Malley was on her porch and motioned for Nash, Ruby, and her to come into the house as soon as Nash handed off Eddie to Officer Gonzales.

“Is Bodie inside?” Caroline came out and asked.

Malley shook his head but didn’t add more. He just led them through her living room and into the hall to the bedrooms.

With each step she took, Caroline’s heartbeat kicked up even faster, and her grip tightened on the gun that Nash had given her. If Bodie was indeed here though, Malley must not have believed his own gun would be needed since he currently had it holstered.

So, maybe Bodie was dead.

That would mesh with what Eddie had said about Jordana’s father, Leland, wanting Bodie out of the way. Had Leland killed Bodie with the plan to make it look as if she’d done it?

She hadn’t.

But if thoughts could kill, Bodie would have already been roasting in the lowest level of hell.

Malley stopped outside her bedroom door, and stepping to the side, he drew in a long breath. “Obviously, don’t touch anything. The CSIs are on the way and will process the scene.”

The scene. As in a crime.

Since her imagination was going full throttle, Caroline steeled herself up and went to the door. And she froze. Just froze.

Not a body.

But blood. So much blood. It covered her bed, turning the soft blue quilt crimson red. In the center was a knife that had been stabbed into the mattress.

Then, there were the photos.

Dozens of them were scattered on the floor. Photos of her. Some recent. Some from back then, when she’d been eighteen. Most of the images had been taken from long range.

Except for one.

It had been propped up on her headboard and was much larger than the others. Bodie’s face stared back at her. Not an old photo either. This one had to have been a recent one since he had a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. And in the picture, he was grinning and sporting a triumphant look.

“Hell,” Nash muttered.

That’s when she realized he was right next to her and had taken hold of her arm. Ruby was behind her, and her mother’s breath wasn’t as steady as usual.

“I’m guessing these weren’t your photos?” Malley asked.

Caroline shook her head. “No. I’ve never seen them before. That’s not my knife either.”

It was one she recognized though. Or rather she recognized the handle that had been made from a stag antler. She knew because it was identical to the one Bodie had used on her.

“It’ll be a skinning knife,” she muttered. “With a hook at the tip.”

Just saying that robbed Caroline of her breath, and she felt that razor-sharp hooked blade slice into her. Felt it over and over again. Then, the images came.

The blur of frenetic motion.

The pain.

The godawful pain.

“Steady,” Nash murmured, and he moved in front of her, cupping her chin and forcing eye contact. “Steady,” he repeated, his voice calm enough, but even though she was on the verge of a serious panic attack, Caroline could see this had gotten to him, too.

“Whose blood is that?” She managed barely a whisper and silently cursed her reaction. She didn’t want to feel weak. She didn’t want to feel scared.

But she did.

God help her, she did.

Caroline used Nash as an anchor. Or more of a lifeline. She locked gazes with his and picked up the rhythm of his breathing since it was a whole lot more level than hers was.

“It’s probably fake,” he said. “The color is off for it to be real.” Nash paused, kept his focus solely on her. Kept his hand gripped on her shoulders. “Here’s what I want you to do. Don’t look at the bed or the pictures, but glance around the room and tell me if anything’s missing. Can you do that?”

She nodded even though Caroline wasn’t sure she could actually do as he’d asked. Still, she didn’t resist when Nash eased to the side so she could have that look.

It was impossible not to notice all the blood, but she reminded herself that it was probably fake. The entire scene had been staged to terrify her. And it’d worked. Damn it, it’d worked, and that had to stop.

Caroline took in the rest of the room. The nightstand with her blown glass lamp that she’d made. Her phone charger and her tablet. There were a pair of panties and a bra tossed on the chair in the corner. Not part of the staging. She’d left them there when she’d gotten dressed that morning.

“Nothing’s missing,” she said.

“Good,” Malley piped in. “Nothing else in the house seems to be out of place, but the back door appears to have been jimmied.”

While Malley was talking, Nash led her away from the bedroom and back into the kitchen. He didn’t have her sit, probably because this area would need to be checked by the CSIs as well.

“When would the intruder have gotten in?” Malley asked.

Caroline had to force herself to focus. “Anytime in the past six hours. That’s when I went to blow glass in the workshop.” She motioned toward the building that was visible from the window.

“Did you lock the house and turn on a security system when you left?” Malley pressed.

She had to mentally go through her morning routine. “Yes to the lock. No to the system. I also locked my workshop door once I was in there. I do that because I don’t want anyone walking in and letting out the heat.”

As she heard her own words, Caroline wanted to kick herself. Hard. All that self-defense training, and she hadn’t taken the simple precaution of activating a security system, something she had for both buildings. Then again, she hadn’t known Bodie was going to escape from prison, sneak into her house, and leave a bloody scene for her to find.

If it was Bodie, that is.

“Maybe Eddie did this,” Caroline muttered.

“Or Jordana,” Nash supplied.

Caroline made a quick sound of agreement. Jordana was a definite possibility since she obviously knew the address of the place. Added to that, the woman could have been carrying out Bodie’s orders.

Her mother dived into the conversation. “But whoever did this had to have access to those photos. At least three that I saw were of you in your dorm room eighteen years ago. They’d been taken from the window. Nighttime shots.” She looked at Nash. “Was your brother into doing something like that?”

Because Nash’s arm was right next to hers, Caroline felt his muscles tense. That must have felt like a kick to the teeth for her mother to throw out that “your brother.” And to phrase it as if Nash had that genuine sibling connection that would allow him to be aware of such things.

“I’m not sure,” Nash said. “I hadn’t seen Bodie in years before he attacked Caroline.” He paused. “But I’ve read the police reports and know that he stalked her, so I’m guessing he could have taken the photos then. Maybe he’d had them stored all this time and accessed them after he escaped.”

The sound of an approaching vehicle stopped him from adding more, and Malley went to the front window to look out. “It’s the CSIs. Caroline, do you have any clothes, meds or such you can pack that aren’t in your bedroom? You shouldn’t be here when the CSIs are going through the place.”

“I’m sure there’s stuff in the laundry room and the kitchen cabinets,” she muttered.

“Good. Go ahead and pack some stuff, and we can work out where you can go,” Malley added. “If you need something from your bedroom, I can have one of the CSIs get it after they’ve recorded it.”

“You can stay with me,” her mother was quick to volunteer.

Caroline was equally quick to shake her head, and she looked at Nash. “Can I go to your place?”

She knew that put him in a difficult situation, but at that moment, she couldn’t think of another alternative. She definitely didn’t want to go to a hotel. Or to her mother’s. Just being around Ruby could cause other memories to resurface. Really, crappy ones of her father’s death, and Caroline couldn’t deal with that and stay level about Bodie’s antics.

“Of course, you can stay with me,” Nash agreed, and Caroline didn’t think it was her imagination that he’d dodged her mother’s gaze when he said that.

“All right then. Let’s get that stuff from the laundry room and kitchen. Then, I can have the CSIs get my phone charger and tablets,” Caroline said, heading toward the laundry room.

With Nash right behind her.

She was thankful for it, too. At the moment, her house no longer seemed safe, and she’d take a heavily muscled, trained ops guy as her backup. She was also thankful that Ruby didn’t tag along because she needed a moment to catch her breath. Easier to do that without her mother.

“I’m sorry,” Nash muttered when they reached the laundry room. “If I could stomp Bodie’s ass in the ground for you, I would.”

That comment performed somewhat of a miracle because it made her smile. Well, her mouth went through the motions of one anyway. No real merriment made it to any other part of her body.

“If I could kick my mother’s ass for you, I would,” she countered as she opened the dryer and found the clothes that’d been there heaven knew how long. “That your brother remark. She could have at least just used the asshole’s name and not connected him to you.”

“But I am connected to him,” Nash pointed out after a long sigh. “I’m connected to the asshole.”

Caroline turned and gave him a flat look. “Only through random bits of DNA. Nothing more. I don’t consider him your brother,” she tacked onto that, remembering what her mother had said.

Recalling it caused her to huff, and she grabbed a handful of the clothes as if she’d declared war on them. “My mother was worried that me seeing you would remind me of the asshole. It doesn’t.” She threw the items into the laundry basket that she would use as a makeshift suitcase since her actual suitcase was in her closet. “It doesn’t,” she repeated when she didn’t think she’d convinced Nash.

So, she tried to convince him another way.

A bad one.

Caroline leaned in and kissed him. She had a WTF moment, followed by something else. Something hot that packed a serious punch.

Nash made a sound, part grunt, part groan, but she was absolutely certain that he felt the punch, too. He took hold of her forearm, easing her closer. Pressing his mouth even harder against her.

Before he stepped back.

Because the kiss had created a mighty haze in her head, it took her a moment to realize they were no longer alone. Her mother was in the doorway.

Shit.

“Don’t you dare give him the third degree about that,” Caroline warned her mother. “I’m the one who kissed him.”

“Yes, I saw that,” Ruby commented, and she couldn’t have had more disapproval if she’d tried in her voice and expression. She cleared her throat. “I, uh, wanted to let you know that you have a visitor. My gut tells me this isn’t a good time for you to talk to him, but I didn’t want to speak for you. For either of you,” she added, shifting her attention to Nash.

“Who’s the visitor?” Nash asked.

“Jordana’s father, Leland Harris, and he wants to talk to the two of you,” Ruby answered. “He claims he knows how to find Bodie.”